Monday, October 27, 2014

This Week in the Library...


This week, we're reading spooky Halloween Stories!

Third graders will be reading Bone Dog by Eric Rohmann.  You can see some of the great illustrations from the book at Macmillan's website.


Fourth graders will be reading The Widow's Broom by Chris VanAllsburg.  Find out more about this mysterious book at Chris VanAllsbrug's website.


Fifth graders will be reading an excerpt from Wait Till Helen Comes by Mary Downing Hahn.  Find out more about the book and read a chapter online at Mary Downing Hahn's website.



Monday, October 20, 2014

This week in the library...

We're getting in the Halloween spirit with some spooky stories!

Third Grade will be reading Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds, illustrated by Peter Brown.



Here's a great video of illustrator Peter Brown talking about his inspiration for his illustrations.






Fourth Grade will be reading The Stranger by Chris Van Allsburg.


You can find out more about The Stranger at Chris Van Allsburg's website.



Fifth Grade will be reading The Ghosts of Tupelo Landing by Sheila Turnage.



Check out the book trailer for this book here:

Friday, October 17, 2014

#IYL Roxie and the Hooligans

Some of our fourth graders have read Phyllis Reynolds Naylor's Roxie and the Hooligans in class, so I created this IYL for those who are looking for something similar to Roxie!


Monday, October 13, 2014

This Week in the Library...


This week, we are FALLing for some great books!

Fifth graders are listening to a book talk about The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z by Kate Messner.

You can read more about Gianna here, and this great video asks some children's authors what kind of tree they would be:




Fourth graders are listening to Autumn: An Alphabet Acrostic by Steven Schnur.




Third graders are listening to Sophie's Squash by Pat Zietlow Miller & Anne Wilsdorf.

Listen to the author read her book!


Have a great week!


Friday, October 10, 2014

#IYL Halloween

Leaves are on the ground and there's a chill in the air.  (Okay, so maybe not in Texas, but still...) It's almost Halloween!

To get you ready, here are my favorite Halloween stories!


Monday, October 6, 2014

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?


Thanks to Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers for hosting this meme each week!  Please be sure to visit these awesome blogs for lots of great reading suggestions!

This week, I finished (and loved) Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate.  I've seen novels in verse done well, and I've seen them done poorly, and this one is done well.  I was amazed at how Applegate was able to capture Kek's emotional journey in so few words.



I also read these chapter books last week:


The Lemonade War was a fun read; I really enjoyed the brother/sister relationship between Ethan and Jesse, and I love that they solve their problems on their own, without adult interference.  

Roxie and the Hooligans was recommended to me by some fourth graders who read it aloud in their classroom.  Roxie reminded me of Pennypacker's Clementine and Dahl's Matilda; she's resourceful, brave, and smart--what else can you ask for in a heroine?  

Patricia MacLachlan has a knack for writing kids with real problems without turning a story sappy, and that knack doesn't fail her in The Truth of Me.  It was a quick read, but it packed a powerful punch.  

I'm still ruminating over Margi Preus' West of the Moon.   I like the skillful integration of folktales and realistic fiction, but I didn't really feel the impact of the story until I read the author's note about what inspired her story.  I almost wished I had read it first, as it cast a different perspective on the story.


I also got a chance to make a trip to the local bookstore in Austin, and was able to take a peek at these picture books:



This week, I'm two chapters into The Boys of Blur, and I'm already loving how the long, rambling, repetitive sentences imitate the boys' running.  I'm also enjoying the combination of football, mystery, and magical elements.




This Week in the Library...

This week, all classes who visit the library will be learning to use the Destiny Quest mobile app to search for books in our library!

You can download the app to your own device and find our library at smithvilleisd.follettdestiny.com.

Here's some more info:

Friday, October 3, 2014

#IYL to LOL

If you like books that make you Laugh Out Loud, then you'll love these!

(Click to enlarge!)